


What We Lost

by anidiwa136



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Canonical Character Death, More warnings to be added as work continues, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-07-11 17:45:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7063066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anidiwa136/pseuds/anidiwa136
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette never expected it to be this way. She was only fifteen at the time and was supposed to be stressing out over school and crushes. Not this. Definitely not this.<br/>She was a collège student, not a hero. She wasn't supposed to be part of the Earth's only hope in a war.<br/>//ML character centric, can be read without prior knowledge of the Animorphs series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Before It Began

**Author's Note:**

> This story will be written in multiple POVs, including Third Person, Marinette’s, and Adrien’s. For the most part, the story will be written in such a way that people who are only in one fandom (Animorphs or Miraculous) but not both can understand what is happening. It is assumed that the readers know the basics of Miraculous (who the characters are; any episodic spoilers will be mentioned at the start of each chapter) but the Animorphs world will be explained throughout.  
> Also, even though both fandoms are children’s material, this fic is T rated for a reason. There will be some cursing and violence, amongst other things. Chapter warnings will always be at the start of the chapter. Feel free to ask questions, and as long as it’s not a spoiler, I’ll answer!  
> You may also reference this document for basic story information: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XdC-HZj2Opj1jIo6E-GDIN_6dlXa7N3-Z1_MdDPs_7A/edit?usp=sharing

### Prologue: Third Person

#### April 22nd, 2030

The audience buzzed with excitement, waiting for their beloved hero to arrive. All across the crowd was the famous red and black spotted pattern, and vendors struggled to be heard over the noise to sell their wares. Translators were seated in a section of the room along the side, apologizing for the program delay. _Ladybug will be here in a few minutes, they promised. Certainly she won’t keep us waiting for much longer._  
Ladybug stood up above, near the edge of the ceiling opening―how nice of them to choose a location where she could swing in and out. It certainly made calming down easier, as she paced back and forth. She may have been Ladybug for years, and while wearing the spots helped her confidence, large scale public speaking was never her thing. It was uncommon for Ladybug to agree to speak to the public anyway, but it was the anniversary of The War, and as one of the few humans who fought for the Earth, she felt obligated to speak about the history. She reluctantly agreed to allowing the speech to be recorded and broadcast worldwide―after all, this wasn’t just _Paris’s_ history, but the _world’s._ The people had a right to know what actually happened.  
With a deep breath, Ladybug unclasped her yo-yo from her waist, swinging down and landing right before the podium on the stage. The audience immediately stood up and started cheering for her, shouting praise and affection. She forced a smile and waved to everyone, and waited for the crowd to settle down before speaking.  
“Good morning, my name is Ladybug.” She paused to clear the lump that was already forming in her throat, “Today, as many of you know, is the ten-year anniversary of the end of The War. Since the end of The War, thousands of Yeerks have been given a second chance to coexist peacefully on Earth, cities damaged during The War are fully restored, and we have opened our planet to Andalite tourists. It is an especially wonderful time to own a food business near the spaceports,” A smile snuck up on her face as the audience laughed. Once again, she waited for the audience to quiet before speaking.  
“Unfortunately, it has also been a hard ten years. I know that many of you lost loved ones during The War, or were hosts to Yeerks with mal intent. I know that many of you wake up screaming, painful memories of The War flooding your dreams― I know because I’m plagued by them more often than not. I know that many of you are still looking for closure, to understand what exactly what happened during those five years. I can only hope that my speech today can bring you all comfort.”  
Ladybug paused, taking in the audience’s reactions to her opening statement. Many faces were looking downcast, others had pulled someone nearby into a tight hug, and some were beginning to cry. She noticed some bright eyed, curious, younger faces― teenagers who were mere toddlers during the course of The War who wanted to understand the event that had potentially destroyed their families.  
If she focused hard enough, she could see a familiar pair of bright green eyes staring back at her.  
Another deep breath. In, out. In, out.  
She was Ladybug. She could do this.  
Her eyes swept over the crowd one last time.  
“It was my last year of collège…”

### Chapter One: Marinette

#### November 21st, 2015

“Alya, can’t we start heading home now? It’s getting dark and we already missed the last bus back to our neighborhood,”  
Alya and I were at the mall that night. We had spent most of the afternoon there, switching between shopping and feeding her journalism instincts. There wasn’t much for her to report on, honestly; besides the occasional customer outburst, there was nothing out of the ordinary happening in the mall. Still, the area was relatively new to Alya who had only moved to this area of Paris a few months ago, so she found it interesting. Okay, not interesting enough to bother writing down in her journalism notebook, but more interesting than I did. “A good reporter is always ready for anything,” is what she would tell me whenever I’d tell her that the day out was too boring.  
Which is exactly what she told me then.  
“A good reporter is always ready for anything,” she shoved me playfully in the arm. “There’s still a little bit more time before the mall closes. Let’s at least wait until then before we leave, please? You never know when the next story comes!”  
“The next story,” I mumbled as I shoved her back, “will be when my parents ground me for coming home after curfew. Do you know how _long_ it’ll take to walk back home from here?”  
“Don’t worry Marinette. We’ll be home safe and sound before you know it!” Oh, if only I could believe that. “Speaking of stories… Is that Adrien I see over there?”  
I flinched before following her gaze. Adrien Agreste was our classmate and my crush. He was a celebrity of sorts: his father was the famous designer Gabriel Agreste—one of my role models—and he often modeled his father’s designs. He was perfect on paper—good looks _and_ talented—and after an initial misunderstanding, it turned out that he was sweet and humble, not a rich jerk. My crush would probably never turn into anything, unfortunately, as Adrien had literally hundreds, if not thousands, of other people wishing to date him. If his father had a say in it—and considering Adrien’s tight schedule, he would—Adrien would probably only date another person of high standing—perhaps another model, or someone who had done dozens of movies. There was very little chance of him allowing Adrien to date the child of bakers, hopeful future famous designer or not.  
Adrien was on the other side of the food court, talking with Nino, another classmate of ours, and easily Adrien’s best friend. Their friendship had come just as easily as mine and Alya’s had, even though Adrien’s schedule didn’t give them much time to hang out outside of school. In all honesty, just from the time alone it was pretty obvious that Adrien was there without his father’s consent. It was still nice to see them together, as they obviously enjoyed the others’ company.  
Before I could say anything, Alya had already called out to them. Despite my tiny protests, the boys started their way over to us. “ _Alya!_ ”  
“ _Relax,_ we’ll just talk and then we’ll leave.” She nudged me in the side, grinning brightly when the boys were close enough; my arm jerked up suddenly as I waved at them, trying to make my smile look far more natural than it felt. “Adrien, Nino! So great to see you. What were you guys doing here?”  
“We were at the arcade,” Nino answered. “Figured I’d show Adrien what the mall’s arcade looks like, and see if we can win anything cool,”  
“Nino bought another bubble wand,” Adrien’s eyes stopped on me and I realized I was still waving. I put my hands down, holding them behind my back, laughing awkwardly. “We didn’t see anything else, so he’s saving the tickets until next time.”  
I glanced over and noticed a devious look in Alya’s eyes. _No, no no nonono—_ “Is the arcade still open? There’s something I’ve had my eye on for a while.”  
“Yeah, I think it’s open for ten more minutes or so,” Nino began.  
“Great! Nino, come with me, I’m going to splurge some of those tickets.” Before any of us could properly react, Alya had grabbed Nino by the wrist and was dragging him away—in the opposite direction of the arcade—and was no doubt probably trying to get him to go along with her newest Isolate Adrien and Marinette scheme.  
We stood there for a moment, watching our friends walk off. It didn’t take long before it was obvious that neither of them were coming back. I shifted nervously, attempting to keep my face from turning beet red. Of all the times Alya could have pulled this stunt, she _had_ to do it now, didn’t she?  
Adrien was first to speak. “Are your parents coming to pick you up soon, Marinette?”  
“I, um… N-no, Alya and I were supposed to catch the bus back but… we missed the last one,”  
“I’ll walk you home then,” I looked up at him, startled, but he must have misjudged my reaction. “I might have strayed from my schedule today, so I’m trying to postpone my encounter with Nathalie and the Gorilla,” He flashed a hesitant smile and I had to force myself not to stare at his lips too long. “If we hurry, we might be able to make it before the sun sets completely.”  
Hesitantly, I agreed. On our way out, I swore I saw a certain brunette mouth “good luck” and give me a thumbs up.

Luck was definitely _not_ on our side. Along our way home, this new organization— “The Sharing,” or something like that—had blocked off a large area of the path, saying that the building’s pipes had burst and the area wasn’t safe to cross. The water, if you could even call it that, was starting to spill onto the street, and it was this dull green-gray color, and more of a sludge than water. The officer who was taping off the area said it must have been some sort of chemical waste. I shuddered at the thought of what The Sharing could have possibly been storing in the basement to have lead to that filth.  
We attempted to go around by a couple more blocks, but there were more officers.  
“There’s a possibility the piping in the nearby buildings have also burst,” they all explained. “We have to keep this area clear of all civilians until we find out what happened.”  
So we stopped several more blocks away from The Sharing, with just minutes of sunlight left and at least half an hour walk, judging by the size of the area we would have to walk around.  
“I could try calling my driver,” Adrien suggested. “But it would probably take him a few minutes to get around The Sharing,”  
“Assuming the blocked off area doesn’t get any bigger.” I sighed, trying to remember any short cuts to get back to the Place du Châtelet area. “…There’s always cutting through the construction site. We could make it to Place du Châtelet in ten, fifteen minutes.”  
Under normal circumstances, I would never suggest even walking _near_ the construction site. It was supposed to be part of an expansion to Mayor Bourgeois’s hotel chain, but upon further inspection, the grounds were deemed unsafe for a building as extravagant as the Mayor had wished. Most of the construction equipment remained, in hopes that it would one day be completed. The site was usually deserted, and full of shadows and creaking that kept you on edge. I had gone in twice—both in broad daylight, however—with Alya, who was certain that there were axe-murderers or something of the sort. Her claims never helped me calm my nerves about the site.  
Unfortunately, the construction site was the fastest way home at this point. If we walked straight across, we would end up roughly right behind the current Bourgeois hotel, and just past that would be the street to our homes.  
Adrien was silent as he weighed the options. His lips were pulled back in a frown, brows furrowed. I could see the gears turning in his mind—a hesitant glance at the roadblocks, a wince in the direction of the construction site—before he sighed, shoulders slumping. “Phone flashlights out the entire time.”  
I nodded, forcing myself to smile. The idea of an axe-murderer finding us overran my mind: Alya, crying at the scene “I just wanted to get her some alone time with her crush!” while Adrien’s father blamed me for his son’s death, leading to the failure of my parents’ bakery, who were now forced to flee the harsh stares of society and—  
I felt my cheeks heat up when Adrien’s hand touched my shoulder, and even more when he flashed a kind smile.  
“Everything’s going to be fine,” he said.  
And I believed him.


	2. In the Dark of the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Miraculous spoilers for this chapter. This chapter works with events in Animorphs #1: The Invasion. For those who aren't into Animorphs, "thoughtspeak" (the Andalite form of communication, also used while in morph) is bracketed with the less than/greater than symbols instead of quotation marks.

### In the Dark of the Night: Marinette

#### November 21st, 2015

We walked through the construction site, hand in hand, in nervous silence. I couldn’t tell if my heart was pounding because of the extended physical contact, or the paralyzing fear that we would die that night. When we had first stepped in the construction site, Adrien had tried to make a joke to ease our nerves, but since that, we had resorted to worried and paranoid glances instead.

We were barely halfway across when Adrien stopped, allowing his hand to drop from mine.

“Adrien?” My eyes darted around, trying to find out what it was that stopped him. So far, nothing. “Adrien, we really shouldn’t be stopping. If we hurry, we can get home without anyone knowing we were here,”

“Did you see that?” He raised his hand to point up at the sky.

“This isn’t the time for jokes.” I hissed.

“Just look.”

He had this look in his eyes—pleading, gently, for me to believe him. I hesitated, biting my lip, before finally turning my gaze up at the sky.

There was this thing in the sky, getting closer by the second. From where we stood, it only looked as big as a bus. It was egg shaped, with a long narrow shaft extending from the back, and two, stubby wings. The only worrisome part about it was that it had a tail that curved upwards and forwards into a point—a laser gun, maybe.

I was frozen in place, only brought back to attention when Adrien spoke again.

“I don’t suppose that’s just a fancy drone the Mayor bought?” He had this goofy grin, but it was forced, as if he was trying to convince himself that the thing, whatever it was, was not potentially life threatening.

It didn’t comfort me at all.

A quick glance verified that the thing was still getting closer, though it had begun to slow down. “Maybe we should turn off our flashlights so it can’t see us,” He let my fingers intertwine with his, giving my hand a squeeze before we shut off the lights. I placed my phone in my purse, though Adrien kept his out and lowered, the number for the police already dialed just in case.

Turning off our lights did nothing, and within seconds, the thing was almost directly above us, only a few hundred feet up in the air. Our hair stood up on end as we were bathed in a blue light. It hovered there only for a moment before it moved away, gracefully landing in a clearing nearby. The blue light died, and our hair fell back down, although it left Adrien’s hair in a surprisingly handsome mess.

“I don’t think it’s a drone.” There were burn marks along the sides, and it looked like it had barely managed to land without crashing.

“Maybe we should leave,” I nodded in agreement, yet the only movement either of us made was Adrien putting up his phone. For whatever reason, we felt compelled to stay—as if our destiny depended on us being there that night.

We stood in silence, waiting for something to happen. Neither of us knew what to expect, but we refused to listen to logic and run.

Then, it spoke.

<Do not be afraid. I will not harm you.>

My eyes widened and I looked over to Adrien for an answer. The voice—if you could even call it that—had rung inside of my head, as if someone was implanting their thoughts into my mind. Adrien looked calm except for his eyes, examining the ship. There was silence, and for a moment, I wondered if I had only imagined the voice.

Adrien took a step forward, moving so that he was standing between me and the… U.F.O.? Whatever it was. His body tensed, as if he was preparing himself to protect me from whatever happened.

If I wasn’t completely and utterly terrified, I’d swoon.

“Who are you?” He asked. There was a moment before the voice… thing, answered him.

<I will step out. Do not be frightened.>

Too bad. I already was.

A thin arc of light appeared on the side of the ship, opening slowly. It grew—a crescent moon at first, then a full, bright, almost blinding, circle.

And then he appeared.

He was a lot to take in. From the silhouette alone, it was obvious he wasn’t human, but something like a centaur. That is, if centaurs could have scorpion like tails. The light gleamed off of what was obviously a blade at the end of his tail, and I gulped at the thought of what damage he could do with it.

When he stepped out from the light, I took half a step back, trying to hide more behind Adrien. The creature’s human half wasn’t even all that human. His skin—and his fur—was a deep blue, for one, but it was his face that made a huge difference. He had no mouth, just three vertical slits roughly the place where a nose would have been. His eyes were this brilliant green, like Adrien’s, but in this otherworldly way. Instead of human ears, they looked like a deer’s, and on top of his head were these horns—no, that couldn’t be right. They started moving as soon as he was outside of the ship, and at the end of each horn was an eye, also the same brilliant green. The… stalks? moved in all directions, scanning the area. Trying to follow them made me feel a little dizzy.

<Hello.> He greeted us. The weird in your head speaking must have been how his species communicated, since they lacked mouths.

“Hi,” we responded.

He seemed to smile—the “smiles with the eyes” kind of smile—before he suddenly collapsed to the ground. Adrien let go of my hand to rush to the alien’s side, trying to help him prop himself up. I hesitated, but joined him on the other side of the alien, when I noticed something like a burn mark that covered most of the alien’s right side.

“You’re hurt,” I said, fingers hovering just above the wound.

<Yes. I am dying.>

Adrien and I looked up at each other, our eyes full of worry and panic. _Dying?_

“We can try to help you,” Adrien insisted. “Maybe we can bandage your wound.” He started to take off his over shirt and I held back a cringe. The clothes from Adrien’s closet were top of the line and expensive—using it would be like having a hundred-dollar band aid.

<No. I will die. The wound is fatal.>

“There must be _something_ we can do.” Adrien definitely looked more worried about the alien’s well being than I was. He put his over shirt back on, and instead took one of the alien’s hands, squeezing it in an attempt to provide comfort.

<There… is something,> The alien sounded hesitant, and he lowered all four of his eyes to avoid eye contact.

“What… what is it?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I felt like I wouldn’t like the answer.

He was quiet for a moment, and looked at me with his main eyes, Adrien with his stalk eyes. <There are other aliens on Earth. Many, many others.>

“Other aliens? Like you?” Adrien asked.

Another pause.

<Not like me.> His voice sounded pained, like he was holding back an agonized scream. I took his other hand, and he squeezed mine.

<Not like me,> he repeated. <They are different.>

“Different how?”

I will remember his answer forever.

<They have come to destroy you.>


	3. A Parting Gift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No spoilers for Miraculous. Introduction of Yeerks. Refer to What We Lost notes (linked in first chapter) for more information of Yeerks and Andalites.

### A Parting Gift: Marinette

#### November 21st, 2015

It was… strange.

Under any other circumstance, I would have called bull on this entire thing. The alien could have been an animatronic, and this was some sort of elaborate prank to see who would fall for it. There were hidden cameras somewhere, and if we weren’t on live TV, the clips of “Two Parisian Teens Fall for U.F.O. Prank” would be on the news the next day.

But for some reason, I didn’t question it. Adrien didn’t either. We knew that this alien was telling us the truth.

<They are called Yeerks.> He continued. <They are different from me. Different from you, as well.>

“How many of them are there?” Adrien asked. “And how long?”

<There are many. Possibly thousands. They have been here for decades.>

My brows furrowed deeply. “But if they’ve been here that long, why hasn’t anyone noticed?” _Maybe it’s one of those American only things,_ I thought to myself. _Strange things have always happened there._

<You do not understand. The Yeerks are different—they live in the bodies of other species. They are…> He trailed off, his eyes closing, and for a second, I was worried that we had lost him.

Suddenly, a bright picture popped into my mind. I flinched, but it must have been part of his… thoughtspeak? It must be possible to implant images in others’ minds too.

The images he planted into my mind weren’t pretty. At first, it was one of a single, slug like creature, a dull gray-green with purple flecks. It looked like it was easily the size of my palm, if not bigger. He then changed to an image of what looked like a pool full of those slugs, and together, it looked like sludge.

I grimaced. “Was that a Yeerk?”

He nodded. <They are almost powerless without hosts. They—>

Adrien and I were hit with a blast of pain. I doubled over from the pain, and while Adrien was cringing, he didn’t budge. It was from the alien, though he must not have meant to let that transfer through the thoughtspeak because it was gone as quickly as it had come. I glanced up at Adrien, but he was looking down at the alien.

<The Yeerks are parasites,> he continued once the pain had subsided. <They must have a host. We call them Controllers when they have one. They attach themselves to their host’s brain, taking over the host’s thoughts and feelings. They always try to get the host to accept them voluntarily, otherwise the host might be able to resist and regain control.>

“They take over people,” Adrien repeated, as if he was attempting to convince himself what he heard was true.

“M-maybe you shouldn’t be telling us these things,” I said. “We’re just kids. We can’t do anything about this,”

The alien ignored my statement. <We had hoped to stopped them,> he continued. <Swarms of their Bug Fighters were waiting when our Dome Ship had come out of Z-Space. We knew of their mother ship and were ready for the Bug Fighters, but… They had a powerful Bladeship hiding in a crater of your moon. We fought, but… we lost. They have tracked me here. They will be here soon to eliminate all traces of me and my ship.>

Adrien’s curiosity was stronger than my desire to run. “How can they do that?” He asked.

The alien tried to smile with his eyes. A weak one. A dying one.

<Their Dracon beams will leave nothing behind but a few molecules of this ship, and… of this body.> He said. <I sent a message to my homeworld. We Andalites fight the Yeerks wherever they go throughout the universe. My people will send help, but it may take a year, even more, and by then the Yeerks will have control of this planet. After that, there is no hope. You must warn your people.>

_No hope?_

Another spasm of pain ripped through him, but we only knew because his grip on our hands tightened, not because of another empathy burst. Adrien and I shared a look. He was almost gone.

“But no one would believe us,” I said. “We’re just teenagers. And if there was no evidence left…”

“Maybe we can try taking him to my home. I’m sure there’s a spare room that no one looks in.” Adrien offered.

<There is no time. No time,> the Andalite said. <Unless…>

“What?”

All four of his eyes looked towards me. I flinched a little under his gaze. Even in his last moments, his eyes were bright and intense.

<Go into my ship. There will be two small wooden boxes. Dark brown, with red carvings. Bring it to me, quickly. I have very little time, and the Yeerks will find me soon.>

I tensed for a second, scared to wander inside of the ship, but Adrien gave me a small smile of encouragement. I took a deep breath, letting go of the Andalite’s hand as I stood.

I walked over to the door of the ship and looked inside. It didn’t take long to find the boxes he spoke of—almost everything inside was a creamy color with rounder edges. I could see the boxes from the doorway; they were placed next to a small sky blue box.

There was no chair of any sort when I stepped into the ship. Just an open space. Minimal buttons. Most likely it was all controlled by thought—it was pretty impressive, if that was the case.

I grabbed the boxes, pausing to pick up the blue box. There were no markings or openings on it at all, and it was heavy for its size. An alien paper weight? It would make sense, if there were actually papers in the ship. Maybe it was also controlled with thoughts. I put it back down, and looked at the photo—hologram?—that was nearby. It was of four Andalites, two of whom were older, with tanner fur, while two looked like children.

His family.

He was here, dying, lightyears away from his family. Dying because he had tried to protect Earth, which wasn’t even his planet. I felt a small flame of anger against the Yeerks for taking him away from his home.

I returned to Adrien and the Andalite, giving him the boxes.

<Thank you.> He paused, looking at the boxes briefly. <There is something I may be able to do to help you fight the Yeerks.>

“What?” We said in unison—Adrien looked determined, while I was more shocked than anything.

<I know you are young, and it pains me to ask this of you. I know that you have no power with which to resist the Yeerks, but I may be able to give you some small powers that may help.>

Adrien and I shared another look. He almost seemed… excited.

<If you wish, I can give you powers that no one else has.>

“Powers?”

<This is part of an ancient power,> The Andalite explained, gesturing to the boxes in his hand. <There are few others of this kind. It grants the user powers beyond the capability of a normal human. Strength, durability, speed,> he placed one box in my hand, <creation,> and the other in Adrien’s, <and destruction.>

“We haven’t even _agreed_ on taking this responsibility!” I protested, attempting to get him to take the box back.

“Marinette,” I stopped, letting my eyes meet Adrien’s. He spoke quietly, and calmly. “We _have_ to. For Paris. For Earth. …For our families,”

I stared for a moment, but let my shoulders droop. He was right. It was the least I could do. Fight against the Yeerks to make sure the Andalite didn’t die in vain.

“…Okay. I’ll do it.” Adrien smiled at me, but it didn’t help the knots in my stomach.

<Keep the boxes hidden from others. There is a chance that someone else will try to take the contents from you,> He instructed. Adrien put the box in his pocket, and I put mine in my purse. <When you are alone, put on what’s inside. The Kwami will take care of the rest.>

“Kwami?”

Suddenly, his eyes jerked towards the sky. Adrien’s and my gaze followed. Far, far overhead, two bright lights were shooting across the sky.

“What’s that?”

<Yeerks.>


	4. Nightmare Fuel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One instance of cursing, minor character death by consumption/murder.

### Nightmare Fuel: Marinette

#### November 21st, 2015

A wave of fear washed over me, and while I was scared, I knew it wasn’t my own.

It was the Andalite’s.

<Visser Three,> his voice faltered, his main eyes staring directly at the red dots in the sky. As they neared, he turned his stalk eyes to look at Adrien and me—one for each of us. <You must go. Visser Three is the deadliest of your enemies. He possesses Andalite technology—the power to morph, or shapeshift. At this point, if you were to confront him, you will die.>

“No, we’ll stay,” Adrien’s tone surprised me. He was determined to stand his ground and protect the Andalite. Either he was brave or stupid.

The Andalite turned his head to face us again, smiling weakly with his eyes. <No, young one. You must save yourselves. Save yourselves and your planet. The Yeerks have arrived.>

I glanced back up at the sky. The two red lights were sinking towards us, and there was a third ship following behind, though it was almost as black as the sky behind it. “But… how are we supposed to fight the Controllers?”

<You will find a way. Now run!>

Adrien seemed reluctant to leave his side, but when he stood, he grabbed my hand and we ran away from the Andalite, moments before a bright red light snapped on from one of the ships. We looked at each other, nodded, and hid behind a partially constructed stone wall, far enough to where we wouldn’t be noticed, close enough to see what was happening. We might not have been able to stay by the Andalite’s side in his dying moments, but we would stay near.

A second red spotlight shone, and the two… Bug Fighters, was it? The Bug Fighters landed, one on either side of the Andalite’s ship. They were slightly larger than the Andalite ship, and were shaped like legless cockroaches, with small eye-like windows at the front head of the ship. On either side of the head were two very long, very sharp, serrated spears. I squeezed Adrien’s hand in an attempt to stay calm.

But then the larger ship began to descend. Suddenly, I felt that wave of fear all over again: I felt like I couldn’t breathe no matter how hard I tried; I tried to swallow and couldn’t; I wanted to run but my legs felt like jelly; I was shaking from a fear so deep that it was like nothing I had ever experienced before. It was the same fear the Andalite had shown when he realized Visser Three was coming, only this time, the fear was mine.

The ship got closer to the ground. It was about to land on top of a rusted earthmover parked there, but as it neared, the earthmover just… sizzled and disappeared.

Adrien squeezed my hand this time. A Dracon beam.

Visser Three’s ship design looked like a weapon, almost like an axe. The middle was the axe’s handle, while the front turned into a triangular point. The rear wings were scimitar, like an axe’s blade. It was easily ten times the size of the Bug Fighters.

When the Bladeship completely landed, a door opened.

Adrien’s free hand was over my mouth before I managed to let out a scream.

They leapt from the ship, whirling and thrusting and slicing the air—these creatures looked like living weapons. They were maybe seven or eight feet tall, standing on two digitigrade legs and had two very long arms. They had horn-blades growing from the wrist, elbow, knees, and on the end of their tails. Their hands and feet ended in sharp claws as well. Their neck was also long, almost snake like, a mouth that was almost a beak, and more horn-blades raking forward on top of their head.

<Hork-Bajir Controllers.>

We both flinched at the sound of the Andalite’s voice. We weren’t expecting him to have noticed we had stuck around. His voice sounded fainter, but I wasn’t sure if it was because we were further or if it was because he was dying.

<The Hork-Bajir are a good people, despite their fearsome looks,> the Andalite promised us. <But they have been enslaved by the Yeerks. Each of them now carries a Yeerk in their head. They are to be pitied.>

I gulped.

A whole _race_ enslaved by the Yeerks…

Soon after the Hork-Bajir had exited the ship, another species followed. They were massive centipedes, thick enough that if you tried to hug one, your arms wouldn’t even reach halfway. That is, if you wanted to hug a gross alien bug. They had dozens of legs supporting the lower two thirds of their bodies, while their front third stood upright, their legs ending in lobster claws. At their heads were four round red eyes, and their mouth was pointed upward, ringed by hundreds of teeth.

<Taxxon Controllers.> The Andalite informed us. <They will eat anything in their path. They will do anything for food.>

The Hork-Bajir and Taxxons spread out from the ship, starting to patrol the area. They all held a small, pistol sized weapon.

Adrien pulled me down towards the dirt seconds before a Hork-Bajir looked our way. I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming.

<Stay silent,> the Andalite warned us. <Hork-Bajir do not see well in the dark, but they have incredible hearing.>

Easy to say, hard to do. We couldn’t see the Hork-Bajir from our new position, so we just had to hope for the best. I closed my eyes tight, trying to take deep breaths to stay calm. I wanted to scream, to cry, to run—but if I did any of those, Adrien and I would be dead within seconds. They’d kill us, then disintegrate us with the Dracons, and our parents would never know what happened to us.

<Courage, my friends,> the Andalite’s voice was kind, soothing. I felt my pulse slow to a calmer rhythm, my breathing even out. I felt warm and safe. I opened my eyes to look at Adrien, who gave me a comforting smile. Even in his dying moments, when he was no doubt terrified as well, the Andalite was trying to help us stay brave.

We peaked above the wall hesitantly. The Hork-Bajir turned away, moving back towards the Bladeship, where something else was starting to exit. The other Hork-Bajir and Taxxons followed suit.

“They’re standing at attention,” Adrien whispered.

We watched as one hoof stepped out of the ship, and then another.

Another Andalite.

<Visser Three.> The Andalite said.

“The enemy is… another Andalite?” I bit my lip. Didn’t he say that Andalites were supposed to be _fighting_ the Yeerks? Why was there one on the Yeerks’ side?

<Only once has there been a Yeerk who has taken control of an Andalite body. Visser Three is the only Andalite Controller.>

Visser Three walked confidently towards the other Andalite. If they were standing next to each other, the only way you could tell them apart was the fact that one was wounded. He looked _exactly_ like a normal Andalite.

But even then, he felt different. As if he was wearing a mask, and even though the mask showed kindness, the face under it just reeked of mal intent.

<Well, well,> came another voice. I flinched and squeezed Adrien’s hand tightly. Did Visser Three know we were there? Could he read our thoughts?

As if the other Andalite could hear our thoughts, he answered the question, <He cannot hear your thoughts. He is broadcasting his for all to hear. This is a great victory for him.>

I let out a sigh of relief, but tensed up again when Visser Three resumed speaking.

<What have we here? A meddling Andalite?> His eyes turned to face the Andalite’s ship. <Ah, but not an ordinary Andalite. Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, what an honor it is to meet you. You are a legend. How many of our fighters have you shredded? Seven? Eight?>

The Andalite— _Prince_ Elfangor—didn’t answer. I had a feeling it was far more than eight.

<The very last Andalite in this sector. I am so very sorry to inform you that your Domeship has been completely destroyed. I watched it burn as it fell into the atmosphere of this planet. There were no survivors.> Visser Three continued with false sympathy.

<There will be others.> Prince Elfangor insisted. I prayed that he was right.

Visser Three took a step closer to him. <Yes, but unfortunately, when they come, it will be too late. This world will belong to me. It will be my greatest conquest, and the Council will name me Visser One.>

<Why do you want these humans?> Prince Elfangor demanded. <You have your Taxxon allies. You have your Hork-Bajir slaves. Countless other species. Why the humans?>

Visser Three laugh filled my mind. I shuddered. <Why would we not? Humans are a Class 5 species. They are perfect for infestation. There are so many of them, and they are so, so weak. And so stupid! They have no idea what’s happening. With the billions of hosts on this planet, we will be unstoppable! We can conquer the universe!> He laughed again, and I found my free hand clenching into a fist. <Face it, Elfangor. You may have fought well and bravely, but you have lost.>

Visser Three stepped right up to Prince Elfangor. I could feel his fear, but rather than give in, he climbed to his feet. He knew he was going to die by Visser Three, but he refused to die unless he was on his feet, looking his enemy in the eye.

But the enemy was not done taunting him. <I promise you one thing, Prince Elfangor. When we have this planet, we will continue our invasion on the Andalite homeworld. I will personally hunt down your family. I will personally oversee the placement of my most faithful lieutenants in their heads.> He leaned in close, <I hope that they will resist, so I can hear their minds scream.>

Prince Elfangor stuck!

His tail had whipped up and over, almost too fast for our eyes to follow. Visser Three had twisted his head aside, so Prince Elfangor’s tail blade missed his head just barely, but his blade had dug into the shoulder. Something I assumed was blood sprayed from the wound.

“Yes!” Adrien hissed as Visser Three howled in pain.

At the same time, a blinding blue light shot from the tail of the Andalite ship. Bug Fighter one second, gone and replaced with sizzling heat the next. The Controllers nearby scattered. The wave of heat hit us seconds later, although nothing else disintegrated.

<Fine!> Visser Three yelled. <Burn his ship!>

The night exploded in blinding red light. Red beams came from the Bladeship and the remaining Bug Fighter. The Andalite ship glowed, then disintegrated.

In the flash and glow of the Dracon beams I saw humans. A small group of them, maybe three or four, in the shadows on the far side of Visser Three.

“Did you see those people?” I asked.

Adrien nodded, his brows furrowed. “Prisoners?”

<Take the Andalite.> Visser Three ordered his soldiers. <Hold him for me.>

Three of the Hork-Bajir grabbed Prince Elfangor, forcing him down. Their wrist blades were near his throat, but they didn’t break his skin.

That was Visser Three’s personal privilege.

Then, we saw why a Yeerk as powerful as Visser Three would inhabit the only Andalite body. As we watched, Visser Three began to morph.

His head began to grow larger. Much larger. His four legs merged into two, but then expanded, until each leg was as thick as a redwood tree. His arms sprouted, turning into tentacles.

I covered my mouth, fighting the urge to vomit. It was disgusting, but I couldn’t turn my eyes away.

When the head was large enough, a slit appeared in its face. A mouth. A mouth that slowly opened wider and wider, into a monstrous grin, with sharp teeth longer than my arm. No trace of the original Andalite body remained. With the morph finished, he was enormous, several stories tall. The mouth began to shake, letting out a deafening roar, strong enough to make the ground shake.

Maybe it would bring attention, maybe someone would come and stop it all.

No one did.

Visser Three reached out with a thick tentacle, grabbing the Andalite by the neck.

“No, no, no,” I whimpered. Adrien pulled me close, trying to hide my face in his chest. I turned my head anyway, watching the terrible events continue to unfold. Adrien’s eyes were glued to the scene as well.

Visser Three lifted Prince Elfangor straight up in the air, tearing him from the grasp of the Hork-Bajir. Prince Elfangor struck again, and again, trying to cut into the tentacle so that Visser Three would drop him. But each strike must have been little more than a little pinprick to Visser Three.

Visser Three held Prince Elfangor up high in the air. He opened his mouth.

He let go of Prince Elfangor.

“No!” I felt tears running down my face. I tried to break free of Adrien’s hold, to run, to try to stop it. But he held me firmly, turning his head to look away.

Prince Elfangor’s scream rang through our minds as Visser Three’s teeth tore him apart.

Suddenly, the screaming stopped.

Prince Elfangor had died.

I sobbed, but I couldn’t look away. The Hork-Bajir Controllers made something like a huffing sound, maybe laughter. Taxxon Controllers rushed forward and crowded around Visser Three as chunks of the former Andalite prince fell from his mouth.

I heard a sound that was strange because it was so normal. Laughter. Human laughter. The group of humans I had seen must have been Controllers as well. They were laughing, like they were at a comedy show. For a second, one of those humans sounded familiar. But the sound was soon swallowed up by the huffing of the Hork-Bajir.

Visser Three morphed out of the monstrous form, slowly regaining his Andalite body. <Ah,> he sighed, as if he had just had the most delicious meal of his life. <Nothing like a good Antarean Bogg morph for… taking a bite out of your enemies.>

The human Controllers laughed and the Hork-Bajir huffed, and I heard that familiar laugh that I just couldn’t place.

I pushed away from Adrien, trying not to get anything on him or myself when I vomited. It was just so sick, all of it!

I looked back over the wall. A Hork-Bajir turned its head our way.

Adrien and I froze.

The Hork-Bajir turned the rest of its body towards us. Its eyes were aimed directly at our hiding spot.

I don’t know which of us panicked first. Within seconds, we had leapt to our feet, running away in the direction of our homes.

“Split up,” I heard Adrien yell. “It’ll be harder to catch us.”

He split off before I could protest. The Hork-Bajir stopped, trying to decide which of us to follow.

I looked around, worried, trying to figure out where Adrien had gone. I heard his voice again, and I saw him a little off to my right, standing there and waving his arms. “Come on, you- you snake shits!” If it were any other circumstance, I would have been appalled at the fact that Adrien cursed. Now, I was wondering why he was trying to draw more attention to himself.

Then it hit. He was trying to protect me.

The nearest Hork-Bajir snapped around and started chasing him. “Ghafrash! Here! Ghafrash fit! Enemy! Get!” It cried. Another started making its way towards me.

“I get! I kill!”

I ran through the construction site, trying to find something to hide behind. If I ran straight across, it would be all too easy for them to point a Dracon beam at me and kill me. If I found some cover, I would have a chance of throwing them off my case.

I had nearly fallen when I saw the ditch up ahead. There were some large pipes inside. It wasn’t the best hiding spot, but it would have to do. I managed to slip inside a pipe just moments before a flashlight hit the inside of the ditch.

“Efnud to tell fallay nyot fit? Whatever order.” A Hork-Bajir said.

“No. No need to capture them. Whoever you find, kill.”

A human voice. Familiar too. I tried to think—just where had I heard this voice before?

“Just save the head,” the human ordered. “Bring that to me and we can identify it.”

I slid backwards through the pipe, watching as the flashlight moved back and forth. If I went far enough, the ditch would slope back up, and I would be far enough from the Controllers to make a mad dash out of the construction site.

Just as I exited the pipe, I bumped into something.

“Hey!”

A human. A human, laying on the ground, wrapped in a blanket.

“Get outta here!” He yelled. “This is my place, and I ain’t got nothin’ for you to steal.”

I tried to drag him to his feet, to get him out of there, but he refused to budge. I looked over my shoulder and saw the vague shapes of the Hork-Bajir and the human approaching.

I let go, and ran.

As I ran away, I heard a scream.

_Maybe he got away,_ I told myself.

I never found out. With the Controllers distracted, I ran.

I ran and ran and ran. And as I ran, I prayed that it was all just a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any guesses who the familiar human Controller is?


	5. When Morning Comes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No major spoilers for Animorphs or Miraculous Ladybug; couple instances of cursing and implied cursing.  
> Sorry for slower updates, I'm taking two summer college courses and I'm always so drained by the time I get home. :(  
> Belated happy birthday gift/chapter to my adoptive mother, mademoisellePlume c:

### When Morning Comes: Marinette

#### November 22nd, 2015

I barely remembered what happened after I left the construction site. I remembered running, and I remembered managing to dust off most of the dirt before I got inside, and that my parents weren’t upset. Somehow, I was still home before their “last call” curfew. I don’t really remember getting ready for bed, nor actually falling asleep. I don’t think I even texted Adrien or called him to see if he was okay.

 When I finally got up, it was almost noon. My phone was vibrating, alerting me of a new text. I groaned and sat up, rubbing my eyes as I checked who it was.

Over a hundred, nearly two hundred, new messages. About thirty within the last hour. Mostly from Alya.

I opened up the conversation thread. The time stamps said she had started texting me a little after midnight.

[Alya]: did adrien walk you home

[Alya]: he did didnt he

[Alya]: girl why arent you answering

[Alya]: its midnight you should be home rn

[Alya]: mari

[Alya]: mari

[Alya]: maRI

[Alya]: MARI

I scrolled down past several dozen texts repeating variations of the same questions. It paused roughly two hours later, and resumed at about eight in the morning. After about an hour of trying to get an answer from me, Alya introduced a new topic.

[Alya]: ok if youre NOT gonna answer

[Alya]: have you seen the news

[Alya]: there was something last night in the construction site

[Alya]: some sort of disturbance

[Alya]: people said they saw UFOS

[Alya]: UFOS MARI

[Alya]: FUCKING UFOS

[Alya]: wait

[Alya]: did you and adrien go thru the construction site

[Alya]: i mean the sharing had blocked off most of the roads home

[Alya]: unless you and adrien DIDNT go home????

[Alya]: ;) ;) ;) ;)

[Alya]: anyway

[Alya]: theyre trying to say it was just a bunch of teens and fireworks

[Alya]: but theres a reward for info on the teens

[Alya]: im hoping to get the scoop first

[Alya]: for my blog

[Alya]: wanna scoop out the construction site w me??

[Alya]: or just not respond that works too

[Alya]: seriously girl wtf

[Alya]: where are you

The rest of the texts were along the same note, alternating between asking what happened between me and Adrien and the construction site. I chose to put off replying to Alya for the meanwhile, until I figured out how to explain to her that we had gotten home without saying we went through the construction site. After I had cleared all of the messages from Alya, it still said I had a few left, so I went back to the message home page and—

_Holy cannoli._

_Adrien_ had texted me. I didn’t even know he had my number!

[Adrien]: Hey Marinette, it’s Adrien. I got your number from Alya. …

Oh. Well, that explained that.

[Adrien]: … I wanted to know if you got home safely. I heard a scream as I left the construction site but it didn’t sound like you so I wasn’t sure if you were gone by the time I left. Text me back when you see this.

It was also sent around midnight, but unlike Alya, he didn’t try breaking my messages count to get me to reply. A few hours later, he sent another text.

[Adrien]: ヾ(*ΦωΦ)ﾉ Marinette! Have you opened the box from… (^=˃ᆺ˂) I… don’t know how to spell his name. The prince. Have you opened it?

[Adrien]: I couldn’t sleep so I decided to see what was inside. There was this silver ring inside, but it looked completely normal—until I put it on! ٩(ↀДↀ)۶

[Adrien]: I can’t tell you much else over the phone. But it was just so

[Adrien]: Purrfect

[Adrien]: (=ↀωↀ=)✧

[Adrien]: Anyway let me know when you’re up. I’m free today, so text me and come by so we can talk some more about what happened. I’ll let Nathalie know in the morning that I’m expecting a guest. I didn’t get into too much trouble (yet) but just in case, I’ll tell her we’re studying for a physics project. Bring the box and your physics book, to make it believable. Text me back when you see this.

It took me a moment to process what Adrien had sent. I had to get over the sheer joy that not only did _Adrien_ text _me_ , but that he was even checking up on me! I also had to digest the fact that Adrien typed out cat faces instead of using default emojis, and that he even did a quick cat pun, but that was nothing compared to the fact that he _was texting me._

I had also completely forgotten about the box. A quick check verified that it was still in my purse, where I had left it. If he had found a ring inside of his, then it was likely I had something similar in mine. It was tempting to open it ahead of time, before I got there, but he was pretty vague on what happened after… Best wait until I was with him to do that.

 _With_ him. At _his_ house. That was something else to digest. He had invited me over to his house! And if we were going to talk about what had happened last night, then chances are we would be… going into… _his room._

I slapped my cheeks, trying to keep from blushing. Of course nothing was going to happen in there! Just a talk! Nothing more!

 _Can’t stop a girl from dreaming,_ I sighed. I picked back up my phone and started typing a reply to Adrien.

[Marinette]: hi adrien! sorry for not replying earlier i only woke up now. i did make it home safely but i went to bed almost as soon as i got home. the scream was a homeless man in the construction site who is hopefully okay. i bumped into him on my way out and he… wouldnt get up when i tried to warn him. i dont think im in trouble but it doesnt mean im actively looking for more trouble haha ^^; i havent opened up the box yet i kind of forgot all about it. think its another ring? is now an okay time? id have to get dressed first but i can be over soon

I face palmed as soon as I had pressed send. What a rambled text! I can’t even attempt to be calm when communicating with him over letters!

He replied almost instantly.

[Adrien]: It’s so good to hear that you made it home in one piece! ~(=^–^) Yes, about now is fine. Do you want to eat at my place? It’s still early enough to tell the chef to prepare a second plate.

I let out a short squeal. Lunch! At Adrien’s! _With_ Adrien!

[Marinette]: how long until lunch is served? it depends on if i can get ready before then

[Adrien]: A little over an hour. It’ll probably be just us, my dad’s in the U.S. for a business trip and Nathalie and Gorilla don’t eat at the same time I do.

Another squeal. Lunch, at Adrien’s, _alone_ with Adrien! If I wasn’t trying to postpone having the conversation about how I got home, I would call Alya right away and let her know what was happening. _Extreme_ progress!

[Marinette]: okay ill join you! ^^

[Adrien]: Great! I’ll let the chef know. See you soon! (^・ω・^ )

A lunch date with Adrien! Technically, anyway. He probably wouldn’t refer to it as a date, and we _were_ going to talk about a horrible alien invasion afterwards but _a lunch date!_

 

An hour later, I stood in front of the Agreste mansion, alien box in my purse, physics book in my arms. I had attempted to look nice for today, and spent most of my hour changing my mind about my outfit. Even if Mr. Agreste wasn’t home, it would practically be a crime to walk into the Agreste mansion without being dressed as close to perfect as possible. I was tempted to ask Alya for her opinion, but I still had no answer for her about how I got home. She had sent a couple other texts, this time asking if everything was okay instead of demanding to know what had happened. I felt horrible, but if she was serious about looking into who was at the construction site and I told her that’s how Adrien and I walked home, then who knows what could happen. Maybe Adrien would have an idea of what to tell her…

With a sharp inhale, I pressed the doorbell. This time, the camera that popped out didn’t catch me off guard—I had learned about that little feature when I had dropped off his birthday gift earlier in the year.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Nathalie’s voice on the other end of the camera this time.

“Marinette! I’m glad you made it. Please, come inside. I’ll meet you at the door.” Adrien’s voice greeted me. Seconds after, the camera retreated back into the wall and the gate clicked open.

I gulped, even more nervous now. I walked through the gate and the front yard, mentally rehearsing my greeting. _Good morning, Adrien. No, wait, it’s afternoon. Good afternoon, Adrien. No too formal. Hi Adrien? Hello? Hey?_

The door was opened just as I was about to knock on it. I quickly put my hand back down, grinning anxiously. “H-hi Adrien,”

“Hi Marinette,” He smiled back at me and I felt my heart flutter. “You look nice today,”

I felt my heats heat up. “Thank you,”

Adrien stepped aside so I could enter. “The chef has already set up the table for lunch, so you can just set your physics book in an empty chair. After lunch, we can go to my room to work on our project.”

I followed him silently into the dining area, afraid I would make a fool out of myself if I spoke. He had already seen me in not so graceful situations, and I didn’t want to add today to the list. Plus, the inside of the Agreste mansion was already a rare privilege—the last classmate who had gone inside was Nino, and he ended up on bad terms with Mr. Agreste because he wanted Adrien to have a birthday party. Other than Nino, probably the only person who had gone inside was Chloé. Adrien must have pulled some strings to get Nathalie to allow me to come over.

“I hope cordon bleu is all right,” he said as we entered the dining room. My breath hitched when I saw the room; the table could probably easily seat our entire class and a few more. There were only two spots that were set with more silverware than I would ever use, and delicate glasses filled with water.

“Your dining room is amazing,” I said as I sat down. “And yes, cordon bleu is fine.”

Adrien sat down across from me, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s awfully large for a small family, though.” He muttered, almost too quiet for me to hear. “Anyway,” he resumed at a slightly louder tone, although he hesitated as he checked for any lingering staff. “Have you heard the news?”

“About the construction site?” I waited until Adrien started eating to pick up my fork; even though it was only one dish, there were far more utensils than necessary and I wasn’t certain what was the proper one to use. “Yes, Alya texted me about it.”

“Fireworks,” The way Adrien said it was almost as if he was trying to figure out if it was a real word or not. The word lingered heavy on the air. “It didn’t look like fireworks to me.”

My chest began to ache as I thought about the memories from last night. It certainly didn’t look like fireworks to me either. I forced the memories down and attempted to change the topic. “I haven’t figured out what to tell Alya about how I got home last night. I don’t want her to think we were in the construction site when it happened, or else she might try interrogating us for the first scoop for her blog. But she also knows that The Sharing closed most of the routes to our homes.”

“Nino asked too. He thought he and Alya would be able to get back from the arcade before we left.” I tensed slightly; considering _why_ Alya left us alone, there was absolutely no way that they would have been able to return before we had left. “He did say that one of the routes near The Sharing had opened up by the time he and Alya got there, but they had just started marking it safe to cross. Unless we say we took the extremely long route home, then they would know we walked through the construction site.”

“What if we said your driver picked us up around The Sharing, like we had originally planned?” A small voice at the back of my head began blaming me for putting us in this situation. After all, Adrien had suggested the safe way home already, and I had been the one who said we should risk it to get home faster. Another voice told me that if I hadn’t said to go through the construction site, then the Andalite Prince would have died alone, and earth would have no heroes to protect it from the Yeerks.

“As long as they don’t ask us specifically what time we were picked up, it should work. We walked as far around The Sharing’s road block as possible and asked for a ride for the rest of the way.” He confirmed.

There was silence for a moment, then another.

“Marinette?”

“Y-yes?”

“I’m glad we went through the construction site.”

“…me too.”


	6. With Great Responsibility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! So many things kept happening after summer courses ended, and now I'm a week away from the fall semester :| Hopefully I'll still be able to keep this going during the fall!  
> No CW/TW in this chapter, kinda recaps information given in Origins when Tikki and Marinette first meet.

### With Great Responsibility: Marinette

#### November 22nd, 2015

I nearly fainted when I stepped inside of Adrien’s bedroom. It was _enormous!_ I mean, that was kind of expected given that he did live in a mansion, but some of the things in his room felt just completely unnecessary. Why did he need a… were those for skateboards? A skateboard ramp in his room? Or a firefighter pole?

I was too busy taking in everything to notice that the television was changing channels on its own until an unknown voice spoke up.

“Is that her? The Marinette you were talking about?”

The physics book slipped from my hand and I narrowly avoided having the brick of a thing fall on my foot as I turned around, trying to find the person the voice belonged to. “Who?”

“Plagg,” Adrien answered. He directed my attention towards the table in front of his television, where a small… cat… thing… sat, holding the remote, eating what looked like camembert. “He’s… part of the new ‘heroes of the world’ thing.”

“I thought I told you not to bring her over,” Plagg’s voice was oddly condescending, considering if Adrien were to get fed up with him, he could easily overpower him. “Chat Noir and Ladybug aren’t supposed to know who the other is. That’s how it’s always been and how it should be.”

“And I thought I told you that Prince Elfangor gave her the other box at the same time as he gave me mine. If another superhero had suddenly shown up, I would have known it was Marinette instantly.” Adrien countered. He gestured for me to join him on the couch near where Plagg was sitting. “There’s no point in hiding from each other.”

“What are you talking about?” I couldn’t help but stare at the cat thing as I sat down. “Do I… have one of those things in my box?”

“Kwami.” The both of them corrected.

Plagg seemed to cross his arms in annoyance. If he didn’t say so already, it was pretty obvious that he was not happy about me being here when he was in the open. “But yes. This _thief_ apparently gave you the Ladybug Miraculous.”

“…thief?”

Adrien looked uncomfortable with the term. “It appears that Prince Elfangor was not the person who should have had the Miraculous—the boxes he gave us. Someone else was supposed to hold onto them while the Kwami were dormant, and make sure they made it to the right people.”

I bit my lip nervously. If the Andalite had stolen the Miraculous, then who knew what could have been a lie? How did he know about the Kwami if he wasn’t the person who was taking care of them? Did he even care about humans?

One thing I refused to believe could even possibly be true was that the Yeerks were good. There was no way they could be invading earth for the benefit of the human race.

I was silent for a moment, then pulled the small box out of my purse.

“How do I summon my Kwami?”

Adrien grinned brightly. Plagg huffed and swallowed the rest of his camembert whole.

“Open the box.”

Plagg flew up and tugged on Adrien’s hair before I could do so. “If you won’t respect the fact that Ladybug and Chat Noir aren’t supposed to know the other, then at least let them meet alone.” He grumbled. I looked up at Adrien, about to protest—I’d feel much better if he was there to help me figure out what was going on, seeing how he already went through it. Instead of ignoring Plagg, Adrien gave an apologetic smile and they slipped into an adjacent room.

Great.

I took a deep breath before opening the box. Inside was a pair of plain black earrings, but mere seconds after I had opened the box, a bright red light appeared. I flinched and fumbled to keep the box in my hands. Before my eyes, the light solidified into a small red creature—my own Kwami, red with black dots and bright blue eyes.

“Hello, Marinette!” She flew closer and I flinched, leaning as far back as I could. “My name is Tikki!”

“You know my name?” I asked. That… was kind of scary.

Tikki nodded, bouncing up and down in the air. “Of course I do! I know the names of all of my Ladybugs. I have to say, you are one of the cutest Ladybugs I have ever had,”

Ladybug. There it was again. What did an insect have to do with all this? “I’m sorry? What do you mean by Ladybug?”

“You’re a superhero, Marinette! A superhero named Ladybug with the power of luck and creation.”

Luck. _Me,_ lucky? Pfft, as if!

“I think you’re mistaken. How can I have the power of luck if I’m not even lucky? I fell down the stairs this morning and almost dropped my toothbrush in the trashcan when I was throwing out the toothpaste.” There was also the whole “I couldn’t even have a normal walk and talk with my crush, I had to walk into the middle of an intergalactic war and watch an alien die” thing.

Tikki placed her hand on mine, and I refrained from yanking my hand away. “Marinette, I have had hundreds of Ladybugs in my time. I know what makes a person a good Ladybug, and you have the potential to be the best one yet.”

I took a deep breath. Well, I guess if the Kwami itself said that I was meant to be her charge, then Elfangor couldn’t have been _too_ off when he gave us the Miraculous…

“Okay. What do I need to know?”

 

It took a while for me to take in everything Tikki said. I was to be a superhero named Ladybug, who would have a partner named Chat Noir. The two of us would protect innocent people using the power of luck and creation, and bad luck and destruction. I had… a magical yo-yo… that would be able to purify evil magic, as well as a skill that would create things that would help me win the fight—one use per transformation, unfortunately. I wasn’t really sure _what_ evil magic I would be purifying, considering I was fighting _aliens_ not wizards, but it was still nice to know. Also unfortunately, it didn’t seem like she really knew what I was talking about when I asked about Yeerks, but she did hesitate and frown when I mentioned Prince Elfangor. There was also the obvious “no one should know your secret identity, not even your partner Chat Noir” rule—whoops, failed rule one. I chose not to correct her just yet.

“So… I just put on the earrings and then you transform me into Ladybug?” I held the black earrings in my hands, wondering how such a simple thing could have the potential to turn plain, ordinary me into this superhero. Would I have to make my own costume, carry it around in my bag at all times? Maybe wear it under my civilian clothes?

“Exactly! When you have them on, all you have to do is say ‘spots on,’ and I’ll do the rest. We can go on a test run now, if you’d like.”

I glanced up at the door Adrien had disappeared behind. He had already been holed up in there for about an hour, was now really the time to go take my new powers for a spin? But Adrien had also said that it was a “purrfect” first experience, so…

I took a deep breath as I traded my earrings for the Miraculous ones. “All right, Tikki. Spots on!”

The Kwami was suddenly sucked into my earrings, a bright light flashing as what looked like hundreds of tiny, glowing ladybugs surrounded me. I closed my eyes tight, unable to look at the light for much longer, biting my lip as it felt like I was being lifted off the ground by a few inches. Something small—the ladybugs, probably—was hitting me, gently but rapidly, and a brief gust of wind hit my face moments moments before I was put back down on solid ground.

I kept my eyes closed, afraid to find out what had just happened. It felt like my clothes were changed, and I had a mask on, but…

“Tikki?”

No answer.

Well, it would have been nice to know that she wouldn’t be able to talk to me while I was Ladybug.

I forced myself to open my eyes, looking down at my hands first, then the rest of my body. My clothes had been replaced by a red leotard like material, covered in black spots. Not the most fashionable look, considering the fabric covered everything from the neck down, but more practical than some of the superhero comics designs I had seen in the past. I stomped my foot a couple times; there was some sort of padding, but it wasn’t a shoe in any other sense. There was a yo-yo clasped around my waist—also red with black spots. This outfit was a fashion disaster. …but still better than running around with a giant “L” on my chest and a cap with antenna.

I walked around Adrien’s room, trying to get a feel for it. Besides my body feeling a little more energized, nothing else felt different. No obvious physical changes, which… probably was not a good thing, considering my mask barely covered anything. There were only so many other girls out there with the same height, build, hair, and eye color, after all. I was tempted to ask Tikki to change the outfit, but at the same time, surely she would have given me an outfit based off of practicality, right?

After a couple minutes, I started feeling a little restless, like something inside of me was itching to burst out. A surge of confidence, a desire to _be_ something more than I could be by myself.

I looked back at the door between me and Adrien.

Then I opened the window, and jumped.


End file.
